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Dozens of grieving families have been shown the wrong body in morgues across the country, with a further 17 parents whose baby’s remains were disposed of without their knowledge, new figures reveal.

The Telegraph has obtained data from the Human Tissue Authority (HTA) which shows that more than 250 ‘serious incidents’ have been recorded in hospital morgues in the last three years. Of these cases, 159 include incidents where there was accidental damage to corpses and foetuses were “disposed” of against the express wishes of the family.

One mother who suffered a miscarriage said she was “shocked, heartbroken, angry and disgusted” by the data and called for the Department of Health to be held to account after promising an immediate ban in 2014 on the incineration of ‘foetal remains’.

The Freedom of Information data revealed that between 2016 and 2018, there was a total of 253 serious incidents. In total, there were 22 cases where the wrong body was either examined or viewed by grieving relatives, 27 cases where the wrong body was released to families, 98 cases of accidental damage to bodies and 17 cases where foetal remains were incinerated along with NHS waste, there was an undue delay in returning them to families or that the foetus was lost following delivery.

The HTA licenses and inspects 36 establishments that undertake the transplantation of solid organs across the UK. It regulates organisations which remove, store and use tissue for research, medical treatment, post-mortem examination, teaching and display. It also approves organ and bone marrow donations from living people.

Among the more shocking serious incidents identified, in 2016 Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust admitted that a memory stick containing unencrypted images from two post-mortem examinations had been left on public transport. In the same year the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford recorded a case where “human error resulted in a mix-up of brains”.

In 2017 Royal Bolton Hospital lost an organ of one deceased person and Salford Royal NHS Foundation Trust admitted an “administrative error” which led to an organ being kept against family wishes. In the same year, Leicester Royal Infirmary recorded multiple “loss of organs” due to “human error”. Lister Hospital in Hertfordshire admitted than a post-mortem had been carried out on the wrong body where two individuals had similar names.

Last year the James Cook University Hospital in Middlesbrough, north Yorkshire, recorded the release of a body to an incorrect funeral director and the Countess of Chester Hospital admitted a case in January where “human error led to removal of tissue from a body without appropriate consent”.

These incidents come after the HTA published guidance for hospitals in 2015 on the disposal of “pregnancy remains” following the loss or termination of a foetus. It says that Hospitals’ disposal policies “should ensure that pregnancy remains are treated with respect regardless of the circumstances of the loss or termination, and that women are aware that there are disposal options available to them”.

Cathryn Scott discovered that she had suffered a miscarriage during a 13-week pregnancy scanCredit:
Collect/Collect

Cathryn Scott, 40, discovered during a 13-week pregnancy scan that her baby had died at eight weeks, on November 28, 2008.

The mother-of-three from Cardiff, attended Llandough Hospital for a follow-up appointment where she was told that her miscarried baby’s remains would be incinerated as clinical waste. She is now calling on the government to enforce the HTA guidance “so this won’t happen again”.

“It was just heartbreaking,” Mrs Scott told The Telegraph. “I didn’t know that wasn’t okay - no one gave me an option. I said what ‘will happen to my baby?’ and they said ‘it will be incinerated with the rest of the day’s waste’. I had cried constantly for a week after I had my scan and I discovered there was no heartbeat and I was already distressed.”

“Parents need to be given dignity and respect,” the freelance journalist and yoga teacher,

added. “To be told that my baby would be incinerated with all the other bandages and waste was so distressing, but I wasn’t in a frame of mind to question it.”

“What I find especially difficult is that in March 2014 we were told that the Department of Health had issued an immediate ban on the incinerating of 'foetal remains'. I can't understand how this is still happening.”

“I thought measures had been put in place to stop this from happening. We were told that hospitals would be making changes, and to find out it’s still happening is really distressing. It’s such a difficult thing to go through when you desperately want a baby and I think the health service could better support women and their partners, not only with how they treat their babies, but also with the language that’s used with phrases such as ‘products of conception’.

“Such medical terminology is not particularly helpful to women who have experienced a loss. I’m shocked and deeply upset it’s still happening.”

Nicolette Harrison, Director of Regulatory Delivery at the Human Tissue Authority, said that although the serious incidents are upsetting for families, they are rare.

“When they do happen we work with establishments to ensure that a thorough investigation takes place, and that improvements are made to reduce the risk of similar incidents happening again.”

Ms Harrison added that the HTA has developed guidance on “the disposal of pregnancy remains” adding that “it is of paramount importance that the individual understands their options, and that their wishes are respected and acted upon”.

Around 330,000 bodies are in the care of mortuaries in England and Wales each year. The HTA said that therefore 253 serious incidents over three years “represents a very small proportion of cases”.

“Our experience of inspecting mortuaries is that they are staffed by committed, competent professionals who do their best to care for the deceased in a dignified manner.”